'71 F-134 Electrical Gremlins

Installed the starter, hooked up battery and turned the unstuck F-134 over a few times.

Splashed a little fuel in the carb and hit the starter. No spark at plugs.

Replaced coil. No spark at plugs.

Hit rotor and inside of cap contacts with 400 wet dry. No spark at plugs.

I get 12v testing between + side of coil and battery with key on.

I get 12v testing between + side of coil and cond. side of points with key on and points closed.

I get a weak spark between the high voltage coil wire and ground when I crank it.

Bat rotor? Bad cap? bad points & condenser?

 

I would always clean and gap the points before getting into anything complicated.

By cleaning, I mean using a point file or very fine grit paper, then swipe with a business card or clean paper. Point gap should be .020"

 

12v

A spark between them as they break then Zero

 

Today I used some 400 grit wet dry to scuff the white chalk off the points and the black oxidation off the contacts on the rotor and inner distributor cap. Still no spark at the plugs.

I guess I'll replace the condenser and points next? Or maybe the rotor and cap?

While I'm on the subject, I've scanned the forum concerning stuck distributors as mine is tight as a tick. I'm a little confused as to how it's held in place. There is a metal flange beneath the body that bolts to the bottom of the distributor and to, I suppose, the block? Do I only remove the bolt connecting it to the block? It's currently soaking in WD-40.

Also, can anyone identify what flavor of distributor I have and what type of Petrolix goes with it in case I throw in the towel? Photos below.

 

Did you wipe the points with clean paper after scuffing them? Residual grit can prevent contact.

 

take the edge of a business card or matchbook cover and place it between the points in the closed position. Drag the card out and it will take the miniscule particles of crud with it.

 

And you might consider taking the ballast resister out of the equation. Those do go bad.
It will give you full 12v (or should) at the coil.

Do you have the coil connections right? Very easy to get them wrong.

 

If there is one it's well hidden. Did the '71 model have one? The coil is a 'no external resistor' type, so I guess I need to trace the wires to make certain it hasn't been installed and, if it has, it hasn't been located somewhere weird (isn't it usually on the firewall?)

In other news, I was cleaning the points this morning and had a hard time getting the cap back on the distributor. That's when I discovered (drum roll) the cap doesn't fit! It's just slightly too big and leaves a crack on the bottom side when the top side is seated. It's just slight enough that you don't notice unless you feel all the way around with your fingernail, but it's at least 1/16" on the bottom when the top is flush. Looks like I'll be pulling the entire unit and making a trip to NAPA this afternoon (provided the WD-40 does it's duty today in loosening the thing up).

 

I picked up the new points, condenser, rotor and cap at NAPA this morning ($30.08) and began work on the dist. First I put new springs in the advance mechanism and cleaned out the bottom of the unit the best I could without pressing out the pin that holds the shaft together. Then I meticulously rebuilt the unit with the new parts, put it back in the vehicle and, after forgetting to hook the black wire back up to the "-" terminal finally got spark! I did have to sand the cap a bit to get it to fit flush down on the top of the dist. body, but it didn't take much - one or the other must be a little out of round. Next I'll attempt to get the timing close enough to have the engine kick with a little fuel in the carb body. Any tips?

 

"external resistor"

The diagrams I have found for the 71 that it has a special resistant wire. (Takes the place of the ballast). That means the coil would not have an internal resistor.

 

Reworked the distributor order checking TDC and it fired up pouring gas in the carb. After replacing the fuel pump I drove it around the neighborhood, albeit with full choke. Now to debug the carb - it won't idle without full choke.

 

Took the Solex off this afternoon, took it apart, blew everything out with carb cleaner (3M is on sale at NAPA right now - 2 cans for something like $5) then put it back together and now it idles and runs like a champ! We loaded up the dog and did a tour of the neighborhood in a perfect twilight ride.

 

No - nothing ominous other than a little valve noise on the top side (intake). I plan to do the valve adjustment regimen on Saturday.

Amp light is on, so I also plan to polarize the gen and test it and the regulator. Help me remember - do I 'tap,tap' the field at the regulator with a direct lead from the battery with the vehicle running, key on, or key off?

I had a scare yesterday afternoon when I took it on another test drive around the neighborhood - I was revving it up through the gears when suddenly it popped out of gear as I was shifting into third and I heard the most horrendous rattling noise while the clutch petal went slack - sounded like the trannie dropped into an industrial blender! I was able to speed shift into second and limped home thinking the worse. After crawling underneath I found the end clip had popped off the clutch linkage rod and the noise was from it rattling around between the various iron obstacles underneath. Whew!